Well, being patient, supportive and cooperative as you were, you are entitled to a bit of a progress update.

Our scripters and programmers are really pouring their blood into this project, with all the amazing solutions they've come up with. Interesting new features are added daily and many of the concepts familiar from vanilla have been "tolkienised", changed, enhanced, etc...
Pre-battle menus, prisoner concept in general, reinforcements, "money", influence, etc, all are now becoming more reflective of the epic struggle between good and evil that was the War of the Ring.

With immersion being most important to us (you have to feel like a part of Middle Earth) immense effort has been put into appearance and credibility. Not just scenes, but the generation of battlefields and campsites as well, to reflect the area where you are. Ambiental sounds, outer terrains, mountain props, flora...all play their part. You're even notifed as you walk from one geographic region to another, because each was important in its own way in Tolkien's works.

All in all the exploration itself is a great motivator in game, you'll definitely want to visit each place, each town, each throneroom, legendary and recognisable locations all around and feel the pulse and life of all of them. Town walkers reflect their faction's culture, their rumours reveal info about themselves, about their enemies and even unlock additional features. Town menus were expanded, functions added to various NPCs, troop storage, training camps, etc, all rather changed from native game.

Then there's the very custom NPCs, then there's the reward items, the custom titles for all factions, graphic art for most occasions, fancy little lore details scattered here and there, various creatures, and all that even before you get to the troops themselves, kitted out in about 900 fancy new armours and weapons each made in look and function to reflect the culture of their wearers.

We will release this monster on 31. October 2011, not only because we should, but because we ourselves are eager to play the finished product.

And for the very end, it's worth repeating again TLD is primarily based on Tolkien's books, not on Peter Jackson's movies. So no need to ask about plate armour, uruk-hai crossbows, odd elven blades and other movie inventions.

P.S.
You can follow progress on the forums.
Here: Mbx.streetofeyes.com
And here: Forums.taleworlds.com
TLD 3.0 is a Mount and Blade v.1.011 mod, because of Warband's modding limitations. Do not ask for Warband port, please. We are not currently planning a Warband port.
We will be deleting comments/questions about these.

Props to you people for not falling apart after losing your leader.
I'm sure everyone here is extremely grateful you're continuing work, this is easily looking to become one of the best mods available for M&B.

I hope so too, but Prophesy of Pendor is a great competitor (you can google it). Will be tough to go against it. This mod definitely has the great features, items and feel to it. What makes PoP great, though, is its replayability (and possibly storyline), which is near-impossible to accomplish in M&B.

If this mod manages to achieve that as well, then not only is it one of the best for M&B, but one of the best for ModDB.

Sorry if I made it seem that way.
I never meant to say it as that being your objective.

I'm thankful you've revived such a great concept for an ideal game.
I'm sure everyone is very eager for release, which they should be, seeing its great quality already.
I wish you all the best of luck, because I am one who's very eager to play this mod ;).